menshealthaustralia.net

More National Men's Health Policy Consultation Forums Announced

The Australian Government has announced the dates for more community consultation forums in Perth, Kalgoorlie, Whyalla, Adelaide, Geelong and Melbourne for its National Men’s Health Policy. We encourage you to circulate this information widely and attend the forum closest to you to let your views about men’s health issues be heard. Dates and venues are below. To RSVP to any of the forums, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 02 6289 6859. Registration is free. For more information click here. You can also host your own men's health community consultation forum .

 Irish National Men’s Health Policy Published

The Minister of State at the Department of Health with special responsibility for Health Promotion and Food Safety, published a National Men’s Health Policy today, Wednesday 28th January, 2009. "The need for an increased policy focus on men’s health is now, all the more pressing, as we face into a difficult economic climate” said Dr Noel Richardson, co-author of the Policy. "The National Men's Health Policy aligns itself with existing policies and strategies and identifies how the men’s health agenda can be advanced through these existing policies across Government Departments and through the services provided by the Health Service Executive.'' A copy of the publication can be viewed here.

 Men's Health Policy: A Step Forward

The Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, today (25th Nov 08) announced the next step in the development of a National Men's Health Policy. Her statement can be obtained here . Accompanying this release is a "Policy Kit" containing background documents (including an Executive Summary, Background Paper and Summary of Issues), which can be obtained here .

There is still an emphasis on myths around male health (males don't use doctors / don't look after themselves) rather than questioning of how to make services more attractive to males (accessible, appropriate, affordable and male-friendly). However, any short-comings in the current understanding will be able to be questioned through the use of the Feedback Form (available on the Policy Kit page). Consultation is planned from early 2009. The planned process is commendable, seeming to be aimed at ensuring wide-spread input from diverse communities of men.

 Domestic violence: the other half of the story

Media coverage of a new report released last week by the White Ribbon Foundation focusing solely upon violence by men against women and girls, has been criticized by a leading men's health organisation for only telling half of the story. "One would think after following last week's news, that the only violence happening in Australian society is male-on-female. Nothing could be further from the truth," said Greg Andresen, Media Consultant with Men's Heath Australia.

 Study Seeks Male Victims of Domestic Abuse

The nature and extent of domestic abuse against WA men will be studied in ground-breaking research by the Men’s Advisory Network (MAN) and Edith Cowan University. Lotterywest is providing $140,422 towards the 18-month project, which MAN hopes will shed light on this little-understood area and provide solid data to underpin calls for more targeted support services for male victims of domestic abuse. Executive officer Gary Bryant said MAN had been concerned for some time that the issue of intimate partner abuse against men was not widely recognised by the community or by governments responsible for funding support services.

View media releases from  ECU and  MAN.

 A big piece of stone just fell out of the Domestic Violence version of the Berlin Wall (North America)

For all the men who have suffered at the hands of battering women, a chunk of stone just fell out of that huge gendered wall. In a taxpayer lawsuit by four male victims of DV, the Third District appellate court in California reversed a previous ruling holding that because they are not statistically situated with women, men are not entitled to equal protection. The new ruling declares the exclusion of men from Domestic Violence programs unconstitutional.